Clauses — the unit the rest of this chapter is built on

A clause has a subject and a finite verb. A main (independent) clause can stand alone; a subordinate (dependent) clause cannot, and does the work of a single part of speech inside the sentence.

The same word can open all three, so decide by the clause's job, not its first word. that in I know that he came opens a noun clause (object of know); in the man that came an adjective clause; in he ran so fast that he won an adverb clause of result.

Sentences by structure

• ›Simple — one finite verb: Being ill, he stayed at home.
• ›Compound — two or more main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so): He was ill, so he stayed at home.
• ›Complex — one main clause and at least one subordinate: As he was ill, he stayed at home.
• ›Compound-complex — two main clauses and at least one subordinate

Defining and non-defining relative clauses — the commas carry the meaning

• ›My brother who lives in Patna is a doctor. — defining: I have more than one brother, and this one lives in Patna
• ›My brother, who lives in Patna, is a doctor. — non-defining: I have one brother, and this is extra information
• ›That cannot open a non-defining clause. My brother, that lives in Patna is always wrong.

Transformation of sentences — the drill the paper sets most

The meaning must survive the change. Every pattern below keeps it.

Simple ↔ complex ↔ compound

• ›Being ill, he could not come. → As he was ill, he could not come. → He was ill, so he could not come.

Too … to ↔ so … that … not — the negative appears in the rewritten sentence

• ›He is too weak to walk. → He is so weak that he cannot walk.

Degrees of comparison — the pattern the paper uses most, and the one with a trap

• ›Superlative: Mumbai is the largest city in India.
• ›Comparative: Mumbai is larger than any other city in India.
• ›Positive: No other city in India is as large as Mumbai.
• ›Larger than any city in India is wrong: without other, Mumbai is compared with itself.
• ›When the thing is one of the largest rather than the largest: Patna is one of the largest cities in Bihar → Patna is larger than most other cities in Bihar → Very few cities in Bihar are as large as Patna.

Affirmative ↔ negative, meaning unchanged

• ›He is always punctual. → He is never late.
• ›Only a fool would do that. → None but a fool would do that.

Interrogative ↔ assertive (the rhetorical question)

• ›Who does not love his country? → Everyone loves his country.

Exclamatory ↔ assertive

• ›What a beautiful sight! → It is a very beautiful sight.

No sooner … than ↔ as soon as — note the inversion after No sooner

• ›No sooner did he reach than it rained. → As soon as he reached, it rained.
• ›The same inversion follows hardly, scarcely and never at the start of a sentence: Never have I seen such courage.

Non-finites, conditionals, determiners and question tags

Non-finites — verb forms that carry no tense of their own

• ›Infinitive: to go · Gerund (an -ing form doing a noun's job): Swimming is good exercise. · Participle (an -ing or -ed form doing an adjective's job): a running tap, a broken glass
• ›The dangling participle. Walking down the road, a tree fell on me says the tree was walking. The participle must belong to the subject of the main clause: Walking down the road, I saw a tree fall.
• ›Gerund, not infinitive, after: enjoy, avoid, mind, finish, deny, suggest, consider, practise, admit, keep — I enjoy reading, never enjoy to read
• ›When to is a preposition it takes -ing: look forward to meeting you, object to waiting, be used to working, with a view to finding

The four conditionals

Neither will nor would have ever goes inside the if-clause of a condition.

Determiners that change the meaning

• ›Few = hardly any (negative) · a few = some (positive) · the few = all of the small number there are: The few books he had were old. The same pattern holds for little / a little / the little with uncountable nouns
• ›Each of the boys is correct; every of the boys is not — every never takes of

Question tags — a positive statement takes a negative tag, and the reverse

• ›I am right, aren't I? — never amn't I
• ›Let's go, shall we? · Shut the door, will you?
• ›Nobody came, did they? — nobody is negative, so the tag is positive, and indefinite pronouns take they
• ›He has hardly any money, has he? — hardly is negative too

Points to Remember

• ›A clause needs a subject and a finite verb; decide noun / adjective / adverb clause by its JOB, not its first word
• ›Compound = main + main (FANBOYS) · Complex = main + subordinate
• ›Commas make a relative clause non-defining; that can never open one
• ›Degree transformation: larger than ANY OTHER · no other … as large as — without other the thing is compared with itself
• ›Too … to → so … that … NOT
• ›Inversion after no sooner, hardly, scarcely, never at the start: No sooner did he reach …
• ›Dangling participle: the -ing phrase must belong to the main clause's subject
• ›Gerund after enjoy, avoid, mind, finish, deny, suggest · look forward to + -ing
• ›Conditionals: zero · first (will) · second (were/would) · third (had + V3 / would have + V3) — never will in the if-clause
• ›Few = hardly any · a few = some · the few = all of a small number
• ›Tags: aren't I · shall we after let's · nobody … did they · hardly … has he
• ›Exam tip: In degree-of-comparison items the wrong options are nearly always the right sentence with one word removed — usually other. Before choosing, ask whether the sentence compares the subject with the rest of its group or with a group that includes itself.
• ›Exam tip: For conditionals, identify the time and reality first — a general truth, a real future, an unreal present or an unreal past — and the verb forms follow from the table. Candidates who start from the verbs pick would inside the if-clause, which is the commonest wrong answer set.